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Like many, I've been trying to make sense of the actions and words of Ishita and Raman in this Shagun-Adi track e.g. Ishita giving away earrings, Shagun-Raman anniversary, deciding to apologise to Shagun to please Adi, Raman at times being a silent bystander and at others hurling accusations and hurtful words to her then wondering kyun badki hai And finally I reached an epiphany today 😛 So here goes...
At the start of the track, Raman was shown to be the one hesitant to bring Shagun and Adi home. He was the one irritated by the mere sight of Shagun and had trillion doubts about her intentions and the appropriateness of her staying at the Bhalla house. And Ishita was the "oversweet" "mahaan" who made the first move to make them stay in what is rightfully her home and even recognise Raman and Shagun's wedding by celebrating their anniversary and giving her the kandhani earrings. But the quick turn around has revealed the true states Raman and Ishita are in.
Whatever doubts Raman had about his growing relationship with Ishita has been quelled.
The biggest scar his failed marriage gave him- the fear of being cheated on for a richer man, has been erased by Ishita, dramatised during the Mani track. He gained what he pushed away- Ruhi, his daughter, whom he knows loves him unconditionally, flaws and all. This was also proven to him during the girl child conversation and a beautiful declaration by Ruhi that he, and not even her Ishima, was her most favourite person. His self doubts about being capable of love again was also addressed, when Ishita publicly chased him down in an airport to make him feel loved and wanted (though the dramatisation was unnecessarily OTT and creative liberty stretched to its limits).
Even then, with no spoken confession yet, he saw Shagun as a dark cloud looming over his new found happiness when she was first brought home. Yet, we see that Raman feels so secure in his relationship with Ishita that he has made no changes to his behaviour. He has always blown his top with those close to him, be it Mihir, Romi or Ishita, and has almost always gotten away with it. In fact, Ishita had forgiven him almost instantly without a real apology after he literally tried to force himself on her. So to understand why she requires an apology for his 'usual' angry young man rant should be difficult for Raman. Because in his mind, he has taken an instinctive step of denial and is happy to pretend Shagun does not exist, or rather that her existence is as insignificant to everyone else, including Ishita. He chooses to see only Adi and wants to complete his perfect family.
On the flip side, Ishita was convinced, or rather tried to convince herself that she was very secure in her marriage by bringing Shagun home and acting like it was not a big deal. So much so that she gave a lecture to Ashok about how secure she was, and overdid the "I'm not affected" by celebrating their anniversary and even compromising on her self respect to apologise to Shagun.
In a way, also, she had to live up to her reputation and walk the talk, considering she had promised Raman during the stem cell renewal period to be as much as a mother to Adi as she has been for Ruhi, even without knowing Adi.
However her reality hit her hard and fast. She is not ok with Shagun being around or the family, especially Raman, putting Adi above everyone and everything.
Ishita has lost in love, specifically rejected in a cruel way for her 'shortcoming' after years in a relationship.
Though she moved on to find Ruhi, probably the one person who loves her in such a deep and pure way, it is her misfortune that even that is 'conditional'. She is only the legal guardian of Ruhi, tied to her marriage with Raman and has the danger of having her status as custodian challenged any minute even if not for her actions e.g her outburst when the custody case reopened.
She does not also consider herself worthy of a romantic relationship, and many have discussed its connection with her infertility before.
However she did fall in love with Raman, and seemed sure he was in love as well. But she challenged him to verbalize his confession, an act to me that was more than mere nokjhok. I mean a woman to whom material things, even kandhani earrings mean nothing compared to feelings, what are words? It was clear then that she, more than Raman, needed the assurance and acknowledgment that she is loved and that she is worth it.
Yes, Raman made beautiful promises of a lifetime, but by then Shagun's presence had clouded their interactions.
Ishita now acutely feels her 'shortcoming' - Shagun, no matter what Raman or others say will remain his kids' mother. And even if Shagun misuses her standing as a mother, there will be no one, especially not Raman, who has always pined for a place in his son's heart and life, to call out on a child and reject his so called needs, because they dislike his mother. With that, Shagun holds a trump card against Ishita that she has never had, and never will have an answer for.
Yes, Ruhi calls her mother but she cannot deny the fact that Shagun is Ruhi's biological mother. Yes, the Bhallas do not consider Shagun as their bahu but they obviously cannot bring themselves to ask their grandson's mother to stay away. And most importantly, no matter what Ishita had thought being a step mother entails based on her experience with Ruhi, Adi is and will remain Raman and Shagun's son forever.
It is this talking the talk vs walking the walk situation that has finally brought a human flaw to the illusion of 'perfect parent' Ishita. Though she can compromise and adjust for her love, for her family, for her Raman, she just can never love Adi as much as Ruhi.
On the other hand, with Ishita and Ruhi finally acting out, Raman will have snap out of his denial and stop living in his fantasy that he will never have to choose between Adi and Ishita. Because certainly, Adi also can never love Ishita the way Ruhi does.
Lastly, coming to the title, finally we see the true states of these characters, as if reflected by a truth telling magic mirror - a healed Raman hopeful about gaining back everything he lost and a broken Ishita hopeless about what seemed to be a dream come true now crashing down.
Sorry for the extremely long post! 😛
At the start of the track, Raman was shown to be the one hesitant to bring Shagun and Adi home. He was the one irritated by the mere sight of Shagun and had trillion doubts about her intentions and the appropriateness of her staying at the Bhalla house. And Ishita was the "oversweet" "mahaan" who made the first move to make them stay in what is rightfully her home and even recognise Raman and Shagun's wedding by celebrating their anniversary and giving her the kandhani earrings. But the quick turn around has revealed the true states Raman and Ishita are in.
Whatever doubts Raman had about his growing relationship with Ishita has been quelled.
The biggest scar his failed marriage gave him- the fear of being cheated on for a richer man, has been erased by Ishita, dramatised during the Mani track. He gained what he pushed away- Ruhi, his daughter, whom he knows loves him unconditionally, flaws and all. This was also proven to him during the girl child conversation and a beautiful declaration by Ruhi that he, and not even her Ishima, was her most favourite person. His self doubts about being capable of love again was also addressed, when Ishita publicly chased him down in an airport to make him feel loved and wanted (though the dramatisation was unnecessarily OTT and creative liberty stretched to its limits).
Even then, with no spoken confession yet, he saw Shagun as a dark cloud looming over his new found happiness when she was first brought home. Yet, we see that Raman feels so secure in his relationship with Ishita that he has made no changes to his behaviour. He has always blown his top with those close to him, be it Mihir, Romi or Ishita, and has almost always gotten away with it. In fact, Ishita had forgiven him almost instantly without a real apology after he literally tried to force himself on her. So to understand why she requires an apology for his 'usual' angry young man rant should be difficult for Raman. Because in his mind, he has taken an instinctive step of denial and is happy to pretend Shagun does not exist, or rather that her existence is as insignificant to everyone else, including Ishita. He chooses to see only Adi and wants to complete his perfect family.
On the flip side, Ishita was convinced, or rather tried to convince herself that she was very secure in her marriage by bringing Shagun home and acting like it was not a big deal. So much so that she gave a lecture to Ashok about how secure she was, and overdid the "I'm not affected" by celebrating their anniversary and even compromising on her self respect to apologise to Shagun.
In a way, also, she had to live up to her reputation and walk the talk, considering she had promised Raman during the stem cell renewal period to be as much as a mother to Adi as she has been for Ruhi, even without knowing Adi.
However her reality hit her hard and fast. She is not ok with Shagun being around or the family, especially Raman, putting Adi above everyone and everything.
Ishita has lost in love, specifically rejected in a cruel way for her 'shortcoming' after years in a relationship.
Though she moved on to find Ruhi, probably the one person who loves her in such a deep and pure way, it is her misfortune that even that is 'conditional'. She is only the legal guardian of Ruhi, tied to her marriage with Raman and has the danger of having her status as custodian challenged any minute even if not for her actions e.g her outburst when the custody case reopened.
She does not also consider herself worthy of a romantic relationship, and many have discussed its connection with her infertility before.
However she did fall in love with Raman, and seemed sure he was in love as well. But she challenged him to verbalize his confession, an act to me that was more than mere nokjhok. I mean a woman to whom material things, even kandhani earrings mean nothing compared to feelings, what are words? It was clear then that she, more than Raman, needed the assurance and acknowledgment that she is loved and that she is worth it.
Yes, Raman made beautiful promises of a lifetime, but by then Shagun's presence had clouded their interactions.
Ishita now acutely feels her 'shortcoming' - Shagun, no matter what Raman or others say will remain his kids' mother. And even if Shagun misuses her standing as a mother, there will be no one, especially not Raman, who has always pined for a place in his son's heart and life, to call out on a child and reject his so called needs, because they dislike his mother. With that, Shagun holds a trump card against Ishita that she has never had, and never will have an answer for.
Yes, Ruhi calls her mother but she cannot deny the fact that Shagun is Ruhi's biological mother. Yes, the Bhallas do not consider Shagun as their bahu but they obviously cannot bring themselves to ask their grandson's mother to stay away. And most importantly, no matter what Ishita had thought being a step mother entails based on her experience with Ruhi, Adi is and will remain Raman and Shagun's son forever.
It is this talking the talk vs walking the walk situation that has finally brought a human flaw to the illusion of 'perfect parent' Ishita. Though she can compromise and adjust for her love, for her family, for her Raman, she just can never love Adi as much as Ruhi.
On the other hand, with Ishita and Ruhi finally acting out, Raman will have snap out of his denial and stop living in his fantasy that he will never have to choose between Adi and Ishita. Because certainly, Adi also can never love Ishita the way Ruhi does.
Lastly, coming to the title, finally we see the true states of these characters, as if reflected by a truth telling magic mirror - a healed Raman hopeful about gaining back everything he lost and a broken Ishita hopeless about what seemed to be a dream come true now crashing down.
Sorry for the extremely long post! 😛
